


You Can't Hurry Love

by dons



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Barista Taeyong, Falling In Love, Hair-pulling, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Mentioned Sexual Content, Mutual Pining, Sea Turtle Activist Doyoung, Slice of Life, Turtles, but barely yet!, lots of turtles, theyre coming later though
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-12
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-10-08 14:21:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17387963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dons/pseuds/dons
Summary: (but you can get my number)Dongyoung, sea turtle activist, is trying to get Taeyong, cafe owner, to ditch plastic straws and go green. He doesn't expect (but totally wished) to end up in his bed the next week.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> oh boy ! i've no idea how long this series will go on . to those of you who understand my love for turtles ... you know the truth about me , there is nothing weirder than my obsession with these adorable little bundles of joy
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/neovyong)  
> sorry if this is really messy by the way! i wrote it in a hurry because i just wanted to get it out there :D

Taeyong, being the absolute dweeby teenager he was, had always wanted to take over his cousin’s coffee shop. Taeil was a soft spoken man whose love for coffee and pinterest-esque brick walls had taken over his life, founding  _ RubyStop _ \- named after their family dog. Ruby was a very hairy little girl (not the best way to describe her, but it was true), but Taeyong loved her nonetheless, although he had noticed that ever since she passed, his hair had been looking more and more like Ruby.

 

Which isn’t comforting at all.

 

When he realized this, he was very tempted to shave his head bald (an idea planted in his head by Yuta, part time best friend and full time annoyance, who had mentioned that Taeyong would pull off a Yoda look very well. Of course, Yuta was always wrong, but Taeyong had a knack of never letting ideas go.) 

 

Thankfully, as a twenty four year old, he is well past the days of listening to advice from knuckleheads. 

 

Anyways- Taeil is his cousin, but just  _ barely. _ Because if there is a way to disown your cousin, Taeyong would have his name signed as many times as his hands would bear. He would start a club dedicated to horrible cousins- they could fundraise money to permanently ban cousins from the world.

 

“You’re  _ what?”  _ he says again. 

 

Taeil is sitting with his  _ knees together-  _ that’s the kind of man he is- and with a look in his eyes that is undoubtedly the result of being disgustingly in love. “That’s why I wanted you to look over Ruby from now on.” He pauses and looks at Taeyong, slight furrow in his brows. “Don’t you want to?”

 

For a second, Taeyong really does think Taeil is asking him to look over their passed dog. Then, he realizes Ruby is just a nickname for the shop.

 

“Yeah, and I still do, but-” 

 

Taeil waves him off. “It’s settled then. I’m only leaving in a few weeks, so until then, I’ll show you the works and all.”

 

“Hyung, you’re telling me that you’re leaving me to take care of Jisung  _ alone- _ ” He coughs. “So you can elope with a whole gorilla and a half!? This is the betrayal I get?”

 

Taeil definitely does not have a fetish for gorillas, but that’s all Taeyong cares to call  _ Seo Youngho,  _ also known as American fake-fuckboi Johnny Suh. How Taeil agreed to  _ date _ the King Kong of a man Taeyong will never know, but how Johnny managed to get Taeil to agreed to marry him is a thought that Taeyong will gladly shove up his ass and never think about again.

 

“Taeyong,” Taeil says, with a hint of a frown, and Taeyong automatically sits down on the couch again and straightens his back because he swears, Taeil has conditioned him into acting with manners. But fuck manners! “I already told you this. I told you this last week! Today was supposed to just be me asking you to look after the store.”

 

“You didn’t tell me.”

 

“Yes, I did. When I brought takeout to eat with Jisung in your place, I told you that I’d be moving to America to get married. Jisung heard it too. You can ask him, and he’ll tell you he heard it.” Taeil scoots up. “Kids his age have great ears- the studies show! You know, only twenty six percent-”

 

Now that Taeyong thinks about it, yes, Taeil did tell him. But he still has a right to be angry, maybe, probably.

 

“Okay, but,” Taeyong says, “Jisung’s one hell of a kid.”

 

False, Taeyong knows, but he wants to grasp on more than thin air. Jisung is some sort of distant relative’s child, whose parents live luxuriously in Japan for no reason at all. Even though Jisung has probably talked to his parents exactly zero times in his life, he’s never had qualms about being under both Taeil’s and Taeyong’s care.

 

And Jisung is a great kid! He’s quiet, gets good grades, and plays Smash Bros with Taeyong every Tuesday.

 

Indeed, Jisung is perfect. But Taeil wouldn’t know that. It’s not like he lives with Taeil or anything-

 

“Jisung is perfect. He lives with me, I would know,” Taeil says.

 

Okay, Taeyong is completely wrong. But that’s just a minor inconvenience.

 

“But how will I manage Ruby?” Taeyong pleads, already seeing Taeil smile gently and preparing to get up.

 

Taeil looks at him like he’s looking at a very interesting sedimentary rock, which is equal to elephant shit. “You have a master’s in business. You’ll be fine.”

 

And so Taeil drives back to his own place and leaves Taeyong in the blowing dust. How dare he! Everything positive about Taeil that Taeyong has ever believed is a lie now. Taeyong can’t trust anybody in this family- they all fall in love with tall, lanky Americans these days, except for anybody that isn’t Taeil.

 

Taeyong is brooding. He’s depressed- maybe he’ll set Ruby on fire, and then go to jail for arson, and then live his thirty years there becoming a bearded punk, and then-

 

It’s almost four, and a Tuesday, which means Jisung will show up in his friend’s car at Taeyong’s door for their weekly two hour gaming session. So Taeyong grabs a hairpin and pins his bangs up. He rubs his hands in anticipation for destroying Jisung by spamming Meta Knight's overpowered B-move for the fifth time in a row (because Jisung- that kid- plays Kirby! What loser plays Kirby?)

 

Brooding can come later, he decides. There are much more important things to be tending to.

  
  
  


Taeyong opens the door and the very first thing Jisung says is  _ why are your pants backwards? _

 

Absolute regret. Taeyong will never let himself be fooled by family ever again. Nothing but pain exists in this never ending loop of misery.

 

“Just kidding!” Jisung says, and lets himself in.

  
  
  


Taeyong isn’t unfamiliar with Ruby, which must be why Taeil thinks that Taeyong needs no introductions whatsoever to his staff. However, Taeil is horribly misinformed, because Taeyong walking into the shop to purchase a drink definitely does NOT equate to being the bestest friends with all of his staff.

 

But Taeyong isn’t ignorant, so of course he knows the workers. In fact, Sicheng is his bestest friend, so Taeil can suck it.

 

Sicheng is something of a friend. Taeyong isn’t sure why he even works at Ruby, because he’s a stay-at-home entrepreneur of a clothing brand, one that sells pants with too many pockets and bags with too many zippers. The wages of Ruby can’t possibly be funding the expensive shoes on Sicheng’s feet, but Sicheng stays.

 

Next, there’s Kunhang, a nineteen year old that likes bringing in way too many cat related tidbits and decorations for the shop. Taeyong is pretty sure that one time, Kunhang brought a whole cat into the cafe- and it slept there the whole day. The entire cat! He was fat, and had black fur, and therefore looked like a walking cloud of black with two tiny eyes, and Kunhang  _ loved  _ him. And his name was Chairman Meow- or as Kunhang would whisper with love in his eyes,  _ Little Dictator _ . An abomination.

 

Then there’s Renjun, some teenager Taeyong doesn’t know well at all. He’s related to Sicheng, somehow- were they brothers or cousins? Taeyong’s not sure. But Renjun is the youngest of them all, so he’s treated with the most care.

 

Finally, there’s Jaehyun, twenty one and the most diligent-working, although with a surprising clumsiness in literally anytime he moves. Jaehyun is from the States, meaning Taeyong can’t walk by him without giving him the don’t-kidnap-my-family squint eye, but Jaehyun’s much too nice for Taeyong’s grudge.

 

He knows the staff. Which is good, because Taeil has already left the country, and Taeyong’s first shift as manager begins tomorrow.

  
  
  


Ruby opens at 7 on every day except for Saturdays and Sundays. On Monday, Taeyong arrives there at 6:30, unlocks the doors, and waits for Jaehyun, Kunhang, and Renjun to arrive.

 

Ruby has been closed for the few weeks that Taeil had spent packing up and preparing to not-elope-but-elope. Taeyong thinks he’s ready for the Monday morning rush- he brews himself an Americano, just to sip in boredom as he waits for the three to show up.

 

Jaehyun comes in just a few minutes before Kunhang does, both of them almost right on time to grind and brew all the coffee required. 

 

“Don’t worry about it, hyung, we do this enough for you to relax,” Jaehyun assures him. Taeyong takes his words for it and instead unboxes the pastries and sets the freshest ones out.

  
  
  


Five minutes before seven, Taeyong realizes the absence of Renjun. Which should be gone, anyways, because it’s a Monday and high school schedules are nowhere as flexible as the rest of theirs are. 

 

“Where’s Renjun?” he asks Kunhang, who’s already writing the special drink of the day on the chalkboard.

 

Kunhang scratches out a rough drawing (albeit very, very impressive) of a frappucino with too much whip. “He usually comes a bit later. He skips his first class on Mondays because he can only be picked up at nine.”

 

It makes enough sense, and Taeyong retreats to the storage room as Kunhang opens the door for their first customers.

  
  
  


Renjun does show up, thankfully before the real morning crowd floods in at eight. “Hi everybody,” he says in accented Korean, and both Jaehyun and Kunhang chirp a greeting from where they’re working.

 

“Taeyong hyung, can you grab some straws from the back?” Jaehyun calls from the front. “I forgot to restock them this morning.”

 

“Yeah, sure,” he calls back. Taeil’s always been tidy, which Taeyong appreciates as an organized man himself. The straws are in reach, not quite stowed away where Taeyong would need the much too try hard stool, made of bamboo or something else that a hipster hybrid like Taeil would buy.

 

Taeyong brings them out to the front and rests the box on the counter, surveying the shop. There are four, maybe five people sitting down with their meals, and another two in line or ordering from Kunhang. He smiles, glancing at Renjun, who’s tying his uniform up again.

 

Renjun looks up and his mouth splits into a smile. “Hi, Do-hyung!” he says, just after the bell at the top of the door rings, and Taeyong looks up.

 

The first thing Taeyong notices about him is that he’s  _ tall. _ Almost Johnny tall, and Taeyong looks down at his legs and gulps. His eyes are almost covered by his bangs, though they seem to part just where his eyes are. 

 

_ Please move your hair to the side, _ Taeyong thinks, because he really needs to know how old this guy is.

 

Thankfully, he pulls the hood of his sweater down and his bangs lift up, and it’s clear that he’s Taeyong’s age, if not just a bit younger. Taeyong also notices that he’s  _ cute as fuck _ and he really should have bothered washing his hair yesterday, but  _ no, _ he just has to have decided against it for another binge watch of The Office and now there’s probably a whole layer of dandruff falling off his hair this instant and there’s nothing-

 

“Hi, Jun,” he says, and Taeyong is most definitely not staring at his pale neck and pink lips, which aren’t large by any means but they’re full and Taeyong really should not be staring at stranger’s lips but he can’t help it, so shut up. If you were in his position, you would too! He’s sure of it.

 

“Oh, Dongyoung hyung, you’re here early,” Jaehyun comments, not taking his eyes off the drink he’s surely pouring too much sugar into. “What’re you here for?” And Jaehyun says more, but now the mysterious fairy angel stranger has a name- Dongyoung- and Taeyong wants to either set the building on fire (which isn’t a good thought) or set himself on fire (not any better). 

 

“Is Taeil here?” he asks Jaehyun. 

 

“Nope,” Jaehyun answers. “He’s ran off to marry Johnny in America. Taeyong over here, his cousin, is taking over from now on,” and just as Jaehyun hands the drink to the customer he pats Taeyong on the back- hard- and Taeyong almost actually collapses.

 

“Oh,” Dongyoung says, and his eyes wander over to Taeyong’s and this is seriously the most embarrassing eye contact he’s ever had to suffer through, even including the time Yuta looked him straight in the eye as he poured glue into Taeyong’s sandwich. 

 

“It’s nice to meet you- I’m Dongyoung,” Dongyoung says, and he smiles and  _ wow _ has there ever been a larger smile than that. 

 

Taeyong stubs his right toe on the counter in some miracle, and his body relaxes as he tries to stop his throbbing big toe from bursting with pain. “I’m Taeyong, newly appointed manager,” he says much too fast, but Dongyoung just smiles at him.

 

“If so, then you’re the man I need to talk to!” Dongyoung says. He reaches into the pockets of his pants, keeping one hand in his hoodie pocket, and pulls out a wallet. 

 

With surprising efficiency, he pulls out a business card and hands it to Taeyong. Taeyong squints at it (it would probably be much easier to read if Taeyong remembered his glasses) and notices the tiny green bump on the page. He tries to flick it off, but- is that a turtle?

 

“I’m a sea turtle activist at the Seoul Conservatory for Reptiles!” Dongyoung says with too much happiness for a Monday morning.

 

Taeyong blinks.

 

“That’s it?”   
  


Dongyoung looks up at him and Taeyong straight up almost pisses his pants because there is actual  _ lightning _ coming out of Dongyoung’s body- what the actual  _ fuck. _ He takes a step back and is met with a very conveniently placed  _ pillar-  _

 

Fuck the pillar, Taeyong will have to burn the place down before Dongyoung smites him with his vegan magic, or some shitty turtle activism super perk. Taeyong doesn’t know, or care. He just doesn’t want to shit  himself right now. Don’t laugh- shut up.

 

“I’m also one of the leading crusaders in Seoul for the stopping of plastic invading sea animal habitats!” Dongyoung says, voice echoing in the store although the place is built with no materials that would echo like that. “I’ll have you know that last month, I managed to rescue over  _ sixty _ turtles from the wastelands of the ocean- and get them all adopted!”

 

“Woah,” Taeyong says, voice flat. “All of them.”

 

Dongyoung is fuming. Taeyong blinks a few times and the lightning is gone, only the small bustle of talk and Jaehyun’s very loud, very obvious stare at the two of them.

 

Taeyong opens his mouth, but nothing comes out. This is apparently a sign for Dongyoung to continue talking, because Dongyoung huffs and slams a hand down on the counter.

 

“Did you know that every single species of sea turtle has microplastics in them? In this day and age?” he growls. “Over a billion straws are used every single day- and thrown away! Turtles are suffering because of these stupid little tubey things that are ugly anyways! Nothing good for the environment, and nothing good for business.”

 

“Ah, so you’re-”

 

“That’s why I’m here!” Dongyoung stands himself back up from his leaning position and stars sparkle in his eyes. “I’m asking you, very kindly, to replace your plastic straws with eco-friendly, compostable straws. This cafe is relatively popular- and you’re in a hot spot for business, too, so I’m starting here.”

 

Taeyong thinks it over, genuinely, checking Dongyoung out the least amount as possible. “I’m okay with that,” he says, “but what could we replace them with that wouldn’t break the budget?”

 

Dongyoung’s whole fury shrinks down into one shaky hand. “Er, well-” he scratches the back of his head. “You could- paper straws?”

 

Paper straws. Taeyong considered asking a man who advocates  _ paper straws _ on a date. Paper straws. The fragility of humanity is as fragile as a paper straw, he thinks.

 

“Great idea,” Taeyong replies. “They’re eco-friendly, compostable, and most importantly, will make all the drinks taste like wet paper and sad birthday parties.”

 

“To be fair, I hadn’t thought you or Taeil would say yes. I wasn’t prepared,” Dongyoung says, almost meekly, but Taeyong can’t believe his drop of confidence. He feels bad, kinda.

 

Taeyong checks his watch. Almost eight, which means that if he doesn’t finish this conversation up quick enough, he’ll be stuck dealing with customers and having Dongyoung on hold.  “I don’t mind the idea, but I’m going to need more details.”

 

“Right!” Dongyoung says, newfound strength clear in his voice. “You have my card. Text me whenever and we can set up a time to talk about it more clearly. And-” he cuts off. “I’ll do my research this time.”

 

“Cool,” Taeyong says, and he slips the card into his pocket. This is the easiest number he’s gotten by far- and very convenient, too, because Dongyoung is basically a walking marble statue with fluffy black hair and a fluffy gray hoodie. And this walking statue is walking away as of now, towards the door and he is most definitely not allowed to leave- not yet.

 

“Oh, but can I ask-” Taeyong doesn’t want Dongyoung to go yet, not when he’s just about ready to flirt like the absolute smooth talker he is. “Why are you so enthusiastic about this? Where’s the dedication coming from?”   
  


Dongyoung turns around in record speed and his bangs fall over his eyes very, very suspiciously. He smiles, a slow smile that stretches across his face, and Taeyong regrets asking.

 

He regrets very much, as Dongyoung’s smile becomes a malicious sounding laugh, a crackle of thunder in the darkening sky, the tornado inching closer every second, the-

 

Dongyoung pulls his other hand out of his hoodie pocket, carrying a tortoise the size of his hand in it.

 

Taeyong- he says nothing.

 

“Look at him!” Dongyoung cooes, and he brings the tortoise to both of his hands. “My little baby angel- his name is Kevin, and I adopted him from our conservatory- he’s only twelve! He’s got so much to go and he’s just like a tiny adorable gumdrop of sunshine,” and Dongyoung has  _ tears _ streaking down his eyes. Holy fuck, he’s crying because of his own tortoise- his  _ own  _ tortoise! Taeyong can’t imagine what Dongyoung would be like in the conservatory.

 

“Can you imagine,” Dongyoung says, throwing his head to the side with melodrama and gusto and absolute sorrow, “all of his cousins- they’re choking. They’re suffering from things that  _ we caused! _ How can you live with that when- when this baby is such an absolute sweetheart-” Dongyoung falls onto the floor, sobbing into his hoodie with Kevin still in his hands.

 

“Uh- Dongyoung, I’m sorry-” Taeyong rushes out of the counter and tries lifting Dongyoung up, but he doesn’t move. And nobody’s saying anything about it- nobody at all! It’s as if this is a regular thing, which if so then-

 

“He’s sleeping,” Dongyoung says through his hiccups. “I don’t wanna wake my baby up. He’s so tiny and cute.” He almost begins another wave of tears when Taeyong shushes him and ruffles his hair.

 

Dongyoung’s body goes rigid. 

 

Taeyong blinks, then lets go of Dongyoung’s hair. Almost immediately, Dongyoung gets up and returns to his relaxed posture, albeit now staring down at Kevin and not at anything else and absolutely not at Taeyong.

 

“Contact me, Taeyong-ssi,” Dongyoung says. He places Kevin on his mop of hair and walks out of the store with his hands in his pockets, maybe shaking in his steps (or maybe Taeyong’s realy just delusional), and leaves Taeyong with only the image of his long legs and smooth neck. The bell rings when Dongyoung lets the door fall closed behind him.

 

Taeyong stares. 

 

“Don’t be an old pervert, hyung,” Renjun says to him.

 

_ All kids are evil _ , Taeyong realizes.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taeyong prepares.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this is so short, it's actually one half of the whole chapter but since they actually met up i wanted to leave it for chapter three D:

Being a very grown adult man hasn’t always been easy for Taeyong, especially considering the fact that he is very, very interested in a fellow grown adult man who cares too much about small green creatures.

 

 _But who wouldn’t be?_ he thinks, and Taeyong smirks with assurance that his feelings are definitely justified, and that turtle lovers are just very attractive in general. I mean- Dongyoung is- really fucking cute.

 

And he has his number! How the universe works, Taeyong doesn’t know, because he fully expected to have to suck _somebody’s_ dick for someone like Dongyoung’s number.

 

Preferably Dongyoung’s, that hunk of a man. He’ll very honestly suck Dongyoung off literally any time, even though he’s sort of a weird tortoise lady or something.

 

“Hey Siri,” Taeyong says, “does being attracted to turtle lovers mean you’re attracted to turtles?”

  
  


“-and he’s so nice! You know, for my seventeenth birthday, he bought me that LV backpack I’d really wanted for the longest time.”

 

“Renjun,” Kunhang says, “is he nice or loaded?”

 

“Both,” Renjun says, and he turns to Taeyong who's just made his way to the front. “Hi, hyung.” It’s around five in the evening, which is an awkward time because it’s not really after-school but it’s also too early for dinner. Kunhang is fooling around again with one of his other cats, this one named _Little President._

 

“Who are you talking about?” Taeyong asks. He pets _Little President,_ or who Kunhang calls _XiaoZhu(xi),_ and starts putting more water in the boil.

 

Renjun, looking very charming with a newly stuffed cream puff in his mouth, grunts. Kunhang covers for him- “His new crush.”

 

“Not true! I’ve liked him for a long time, dude,” Renjun groans, and Kunhang smacks him on the head.

 

Taeyong raises his eyebrows. Renjun, Taeyong assumes, is a very popular kid at school. He has three shades of brown in his hair and a really cute snaggletooth, which (if he remembers correctly) had grown out late because of his baby teeth literally never falling. He knows Dongyoung from God knows where- Renjun just happens to be everybody’s favourite little brother.

Taeyong thinks about his high school years- it’s when his serious shopping sprees started, picking up interest in shoes and clothes and working his ass off every weekend to spend it all on the newest kicks. Worth it, because his closet is worth _something_ now, though he doesn’t get many opportunities to really wear most of his clothes anymore.

 

“Hey, hyung, you like Dongyoung right?” Renjun asks him. Taeyong’s ears itch and his thighs tense up, either from the cold or the actual thought of Dongyoung, the epitome of sex on legs. “If you want, I can help you out with him.”

 

Renjun is sneaky. He’s not a troublemaker, but he’s the kind of person to be able to convince you to do something very sketchy for him- kind of like Papa Bezos, except an evil overlord with a mind control room for the non compliant.

 

“What do you want in return?”

 

Taeyong is really going to accept advice from an eleven year old. He’s desperate, and Kunhang is useless except for his customer-attracting fat cats.

 

“I know you have plugs,” Renjun says. “Heard it from Sicheng. Do you think you can get me sneakers? They’re for J- a friend.”

 

“Sure,” Taeyong says. He _does_ have plugs, a part of his dark past as a hypebeast that isn’t really dark at all. And not even the sex toy plugs. Just the connections. “Tell me tomorrow, or something.”

  
  


It’s Friday night and instead of texting Dongyoung, which he really should have done the day he got his number, Taeyong is shopping for even more Roombas. He has two Roombas already- the adorable little things are just too good to be true.

 

 _But Linda and Harold need a friend,_ Taeyong reasons with himself as he checks his cart out. God, he loves Roombas.

  
  


Come Monday, Taeyong is regretting his Roomba decisions. There’s a pair of FOG Vans in his size available, and for under $500. It’s five in the morning, his Roombas are roaming around the house with absolute awe, and he’s staring at these shoes, an advert from ssense. _They look like slippers,_ Taeyong thinks to himself, desperately trying to tell himself that they’re not worth it.

 

But they truly, absolutely are.

 

Sadly, there are multiple reasons he can’t buy them. One being the price of Renjun, who’d somehow manipulated him into buying his crush some sneakers. And Renjun has expensive taste, which Taeyong should have expected because Renjun is kind of a Fresh Off the Boat, clean from his hometown in China.

 

“So,” Taeyong says. “About your part of the deal.”

 

Renjun looks up. “Well, what do you want to know?” he says. “As long as you keep it hush-hush, I’m all for it.”

 

He takes a glance around Ruby. An absolutely groundbreaking amount of customers is here at- four in the afternoon- in fact, there’s a whole whopping two people filling their mouths with sugar and cream.

 

“Give me your secrets,” Taeyong says, a hundred percent seriously.

  
  


He goes shopping the next day, effectively taking another break. This time, he’s with Sicheng, who has an empty shift conveniently when the mall is the most empty.

 

“What are you going for?” Sicheng asks. They make their way into a small commerce marketplace- one of those stores that sell highly-coveted, low-stocked items from brands nobody’s heard of.

 

Taeyong wonders- what is he going for? There’s no means to say what Dongyoung thinks about him, so there’s no point in trying to display himself. “What do you recommend?” he says instead. Sicheng, the pinnacle of fashion, is trustable.

 

“I think for meeting someone you like,” he says, “it’s important to be comfortable in your own skin but also wear something nice. Any trends you like?”

 

“No, not in particular.”

 

“Then come with me this way,” Sicheng says, and drags him away into a corner by the wrist.

  
  


Sicheng most likely does not understand that Taeyong is trying to dress up to lounge around in his own home. The only difference is that Dongyoung will be there, but Sicheng is taking this like it’s a dinner date.

 

“You should try these on too,” Sicheng says, holding up a pair of black jeans that are probably two sizes too small.

 

Taeyong squints at them. There’s a rip right where his knee would go, and he’s bruised it just yesterday from dancing in the shower. “I don’t think that would be conventional or comfortable,” he replies.

 

“Who cares?” Sicheng says, but then pauses and looks at Taeyong. “Unless you want something that’s easy to take off.”

 

Taeyong says nothing, but Sicheng seems to answer the question for himself. There’s no point in denying it anyways.

  
  


Finally, after a good half hour in one cramped store, Sicheng finds an actual, casual hoodie. It’s Fear Of God, a masterpiece by Jerry Lorenzo himself, and Taeyong would have never expected such a hipster-esque place to carry FOG.

 

“Do you like this?” Sicheng asks. The hoodie is coloured like coffee with too much milk- actually, more like milk with a little bit of coffee. There’s a beige tint to it, but barely enough to be noticeable under white light.

 

But Taeyong does like it. “Do they have a medium?” he asks Sicheng. Sicheng shakes his head, and so Taeyong settles for the oversized large instead.

  
  


They walk past a hairdresser, and Taeyong touches his hair. “Should I style it or something?”

 

“No,” Sicheng replies. “If anything, I think you should dye it a darker shade of brown, but that’s just an overall comment.”

  
  


“You seriously have to text him.”

 

“Calm down,” Taeyong tells him. “I will tonight. Or tomorrow. I don’t know.”

  
  


_you_

_It’s Taeyong_

 

_[doyo]_

_hi_

 

_you_

_Hey_

 

_[doyo]_

_how are u?_

 

_you_

_Fine, hbu?_

 

_[doyo]_

_im doing alright_

_so_

 

_you_

_Do you still want to meet up?_

_And talk about the plan_

_I mean_

 

_[doyo]_

_yeah that’s ok wtih me_

_*with_

_alright_

_um_

_when?_

 

_you_

_I can call in absent whenever_

_Well, I’m the manager_

_What days are you free?_

 

_[doyo]_

_let me check_

_wednesday thursday nd friday_

_sorry nvm not thursday_

 

_you_

_Friday ok?_

_I can do anytime after eight_

 

_[doyo]_

_830_

_o i mean is taht ok_

_*that_

_sry_

 

_you_

_Yeah_

_Hold on here’s my address_

 

_[doyo] is typing…_

 

Taeyong sends him his Google Maps and throws his phone to the other side of the bed. Like an absolute nerd.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you if you actually .. .read all of that. very surprising, but very cool !
> 
> thank u to eich who gave the little dictator his little nickname .. and ofc chairman meow is from neko atsume. i used to play that game so much on my old mobile :"D
> 
> another thank u to caro for being cute


End file.
